England's captain Andrew Strauss leaves the field after his team defeated Pakistan in the fifth one-day international at the Rose Bowl. Photograph: Philip Brown/Reuters

The relief Andrew Strauss felt was obvious. You could see it in his smile and hear it in his voice. The least-loved series has finally come to an end, England winning the final match by 121 runs. When the last wicket fell England celebrated as though they had won a major trophy, not a tinpot cup for yet another one-day series at the end of a long summer.

This match mattered, to the players and to the supporters who filled the Rose Bowl, their roars still echoing around the rafters long after the final ball had been bowled. When Strauss left his post-match press conference he was treated to an ovation from the fans waiting outside. After everything that has happened these last few weeks there was more than the series at stake last night. England were motivated by stronger fuel than the simple desire to win their sixth straight rubber. Asked by one mischievous journalist if he had had "nightmare visions" of Pakistan lifting the trophy, Strauss paused, chuckled and admitted that actually yes, he had. Typically it was the kind of question he would have been too diplomatic to answer.

Last night he made no attempt to disguise his satisfaction. "We were absolutely determined to win this game," he said. "It was a huge game of cricket. We have been to some pretty unpleasant places as a team over the last few days and we showed a lot of unity and togetherness.

"We came out today determined to finish on a high. Having been 2-0 up in the series and being quite cosy and comfortable about things it was a bit of a shock to the system to suddenly be 2-2, especially given what went on over the last week."

Unity and togetherness. He used the phrase twice. Strauss thinks his team will be stronger for this experience, that their will has been tested and strengthened by what they have been through. "If this series has proved anything it is that unity and togetherness are absolutely crucial at all times. We will have gained a hell of a lot from what has gone on in the last few weeks in terms of bringing us closer together and fighting our corner and that can only stand us in good stead for Australia."

Australia. This time tomorrow all the talk will be of the Ashes. And while Strauss admitted that he and his team were "keen to move on from the series", he reiterated his message to the ICC that it cannot afford to sweep these issues under the carpet. "The ICC need to take a firm lead," he said. "It would be very easy to say the series is over, things will calm down and cricket will return to normal. If we do that we will have to contend with this again at some stage in the future."

The headlines and conversations will soon move on, but spot-fixing is not going to go away just because people stop paying so much attention to it. "This summer has clearly demonstrated that when there is a sniff of something in the air it devalues the whole game and no one wants to play cricket in those circumstances."

As for Shahid Afridi, he too seemed relieved that he would not have to face any more questions from the press. Not that he has been providing many answers. After last night's match he laughed off even the more serious inquiries of Sky's interviewers, insisting that the players were all friends, that Pakistan would be bound to be welcomed back to England in the future to play more neutral Tests and that his team had forgiven Jonathan Trott for his argument with Wahab Riaz in the nets at Lord's. That was more than the Pakistani fans have managed – Trott was viciously jeered and booed all night long, both in the field and at bat.

The sorriest part of it is that suspicious minds have become commonplace.

Last night's match sparked predictable speculation. Pakistan raced to 63 in under 13 overs, then scored 72 runs in the next 24 – rather than credit England's bowling, some pundits and members of the public privately preferred to question Pakistan's motivation. And understandably so. No one is sure what to believe any more.